Skidmore cashed in on his bet, parlaying the decision into a historic victory.
Webster County erupted for nine runs in the second inning, burying Greater Beckley early for a 15-4 victory in game three of the Class A Region 3 championship at Epling Stadium in Beckley Saturday.
The victory sends Webster County to its first state tournament in program history where it will face Madonna on Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Class A semifinals at Go-Mart Park in Charleston.
Greater Beckley had the momentum early but saw it swing back the other way.
The Crusaders put a pair of runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the first but saw Webster starter Joston Lewis notch back-to-back strikeouts to avert an early deficit.
Then disaster occurred for the host Crusaders.
“I knew it was going to come down to pitching today,” Skidmore said. “I knew we had a little bit better pitching than they did after seeing what they had the first two games. I’m just really proud of my team. We came through in the clutch today. Second inning we had a great inning with nine runs. We were patient at the plate, and it ended up being the beginning that changed the game as far as the outcome.”
Greater Beckley’s struggles stemmed from an inability to find the strike zone with Webster’s first two batters of the second inning reaching on five-pitch walks. A short single loaded the bases before a walk issued to Remmington Wright spelled the end of starter Kellan Heffernan’s day.
Unfortunately for the Crusaders the floodgates still opened.
A wild pitch plated the second run of the game but a Ryder Miller triple in the right field gap cleared the bases for a 5-0 lead. A single from Daniel Gaye and a Grayden Channel double helped push the advantage to 9-0 before the dust finally settled.
Heffernan got two back in the bottom of the second when he reached on an error that scored Jayden Nguyen and later scored himself on a passed ball but another Miller triple to the opposite gap answered that effort in the top of the third.
The Webster lead peaked at 15-2 in the fourth inning and the Crusaders were never able to push across the necessary runs to extend the game past five innings.
“It was just their’s all day,” Greater Beckley coach Blaine Smith said. “Every ball found a hole all day and really we didn’t push those runners home in the first inning. A couple strikeouts. We just didn’t make contact and that’s really all.”
While the bats provided the early thunder and cushion, Lewis surrendered just seven hits and fanned nine in five innings of work. Of the four runs he surrendered, only two were earned.
“He had a great game, Skidmore said. “He kept us right where we needed to be. Our bats came alive and all he needed to do was throw strikes and give up a few here and there. We knew that was going to happen but I thought we would come out ahead today because I knew their pitching wasn’t going to be as good as ours. Hats off to them, they beat us in game one and I’m just excited to keep this season alive. It’s been the best season of my life.”
Nguyen, Heffernan and Eli Gunter led the Crusaders with two hits each in the loss.
Miller led Webster with four hits and six RBI in the victory while Channel added three hits.
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